*This article was first published in Scottish Gamekeeper magazine, Winter 2025 edition
In late summer, the statutory guidance for the Police was tightened up across the UK for all shotgun and firearm certificate holders.
The main changes are as follows.
The number of referees required for shotgun certificate applications has been increased from one to two, as well as providing new advice to referees on their responsibilities in supporting an application.
This followed concerns raised by the Senior Coroner after the fatal shootings in Plymouth in August 2021.
The second significant change relates to domestic abuse. The new guidance requires Police to speak to partners and household members to identify any signs of domestic abuse or any other factors which could indicate that the applicant is not suitable to have a firearms licence. This therefore requires officers to carry out additional checks before approving a licence to make sure those who are involved in domestic crimes or have a record of violence are not permitted to access firearms.
I have already seen how the Police are interpreting the change to the domestic abuse guidance. While I understand the reasons for taking a stricter line, I have experienced a number of cases where the Police are arguably interpreting the rule too strictly. What the licensing manager requires to do is to take an assessment of the domestic abuse risk, taking into account the nature of any previous history, when this occurred and the potential for a lawfully held firearm to be used in a domestic abuse situation.
Having said that, I have had other cases where the Police have accepted isolated incidents do not necessarily mean that the person is no longer fit to have a shotgun or firearm certificate. From a certificate holder’s perspective, I take comfort from the guidance which now says, “care must be taken to consider every case on its merits”.
The second element that is often lost on certificate holders is where a certificate holder is perfectly law abiding, but that they have issues either with a partner who is volatile or violent or indeed a neighbour who fits the same description.
The Police will look beyond the suitability of the individual concerned and the wider circumstances to assess whether or not there is concern about public safety. We must not forget that although in almost all cases, the suitability of the individual is the primary consideration, the surrounding circumstances could be problematic if possession of a firearm or shotgun may create a danger to the public safety or to the peace.
In terms of practical advice, I would reinforce two issues:
Transparency with the Police is very important. Do not be scared to report either local disputes or health conditions. My experience of dealing with the Police is that they much prefer transparency to finding things out. If your approach is reactive rather than proactive, it makes my job an awful lot more difficult.
The second things is obviously to try to avoid confrontation where possible. That may seem like stating the obvious, but you would be surprised the number of cases in which I have had guns seized as a result of domestic or neighbour disputes where the certificate holder appears very much to be the innocent party.
